Due Process and the Courts

Our legal system rests upon the principle that everyone is entitled to due process of law and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. But for far too long, the immigration system has failed to provide noncitizens with a system of justice that lives up to this standard. Learn about ways in which the immigration system could ensure that all noncitizens have a fair day in court.  

Recent Features

  • FOIA

Investigating the Immigration Court System

We're demanding information to uncover the hiring process for Assistant Chief Immigration Judge and their influence over the immigration courts.

  • Blog

‘Your Client Is Going Bye-Bye.’ Investigation Details Immigration Judges’ Cruel Behavior in El Paso Court

The complaint outlines systemic due process concerns around unprofessional behavior by immigration judges and troubling court practices in El Paso.

Two Systems of Justice: How the Immigration System Falls Short of American Ideals of Justice

This special report lays out the the incongruency between America's criminal justice system and its immigration justice system, and provides recommendations for how these problems could be fixed.

READ MORE

All Due Process and the Courts Content

  • Blog

Hundreds of Groups Weigh in on Immigration Case Headed to Supreme Court

March 8, 2016

A diverse coalition of 326 immigration, civil rights, labor, and social service groups filed an amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief with the U.S. Supreme Court today in United States v. Texas,...

  • Blog

Obama Administration Files Brief in Immigration Case at Supreme Court

March 3, 2016

This week, the Obama Administration filed its brief with the Supreme Court in United States v. Texas, the case where Texas and 25 other states are challenging the President’s executive action on...

  • Blog

D.C. Circuit Hears Case Seeking Records Regarding Immigration Judge Misconduct

February 23, 2016

Last Tuesday, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a case filed by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), which seeks the disclosure of...

  • Blog

D.C. Circuit Hears Case Seeking Records Regarding Immigration Judge Misconduct

February 23, 2016

Last Tuesday, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a case filed by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), which seeks the disclosure of...

  • Blog

What Does Justice Scalia’s Death Mean for United States v. Texas, the DAPA/DACA Case?

February 19, 2016

Earlier this week, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away at the age of 79. The unexpected death of the then longest serving member on the Court means there is a vacancy on the nine-...

  • Blog

What’s Next in the Supreme Court Case on Expanded DACA and DAPA?

January 20, 2016

This week, the Supreme Court announced it would hear arguments in United States v. Texas. The highest court will now determine whether the President’s deferred action initiatives announced in...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Will Review DACA/DAPA Case

January 19, 2016

Today, the Supreme Court decided to review the Fifth Circuit’s decision in the Texas lawsuit that blocks implementation of President Obama’s 2014 deferred action initiatives—DAPA and expanded DACA...

  • Blog

Court Says Class Action Challenging Abusive Conditions in Hieleras Can Move Forward

January 13, 2016

A federal court in Tucson, Arizona held that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must answer allegations of horrific conditions experienced by...

  • Blog

Second Circuit Requires Government to Notify Affected Parties Prior to Visa Petition Revocation

January 8, 2016

In a breakthrough decision issued at the end of last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which sits in New York City, ruled that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (...

  • Blog

Operation Streamline: Ten Years of Criminalizing Immigrants

December 15, 2015

For the last 10 years, in federal courts across the Southwest border, the federal government has systematically prosecuted unlawful border crossers in group hearings with little-to-no due process...

  • Press Release

Class Action Lawsuit Seeks to Challenge USCIS’ Failure to Respond to FOIA Requests for Immigration Case Files

June 19, 2019
A class action lawsuit challenges the Department of Homeland Security and its component agencies’ nationwide practice of failing to timely respond to requests for immigration files under the Freedom of Information Act.
  • Practice Advisories

Reinstatement of Removal

Publication Date: 
May 23, 2019
This practice advisory provides an overview of the reinstatement statute and implementing regulations, including how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issues and executes reinstatement orders.
  • Blog

Immigration Judges and Advocates Criticize Immigration Court System for ‘Propaganda’

May 16, 2019
  • Blog

Federal Court Allows Controversial ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy to Continue

May 15, 2019

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is resuming its controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy. This policy requires asylum-seeking Central American migrants who arrive at our Southern border...

  • Blog

Federal Court Stops USCIS Policy Harmful to Students and Exchange Visitors

May 7, 2019

A federal district court recently prevented U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from imposing a new policy that radically changed how the agency determines when a foreign student or...

  • Press Release

Groups Launch Legal Challenge to Trump Administration Policy on Jailing Asylum Seekers

May 2, 2019
The American Immigration Council, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and The American Civil Liberties Union, filed a proposed amended complaint in federal court today in order to challenge the Trump administration’s new policy that categorically denies bond hearings to asylum seekers. The policy, announced April 16 by Attorney General William Barr, targets asylum seekers whom immigration officers previously determined have a “credible fear” of persecution or torture if returned to the places they fled.
  • Blog

Trump Wants to Make These 4 Disastrous Changes to the Asylum System

May 1, 2019

President Trump is calling for new regulations that will target asylum seekers arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. These new rules would accelerate court hearings, limit options for relief, create...

  • Blog

Government Will Help 2,700 Central American Children Reunite With Their Families After Court Settlement

April 16, 2019

The Trump administration has agreed to reverse course and begin the process of reuniting 2,700 children living in Central America with their parents in the United States. The decision comes as...

  • Press Release

Attorney General’s Decision Would Deprive Asylum Seekers of Bond Hearings

April 16, 2019
In a decision today, Attorney General William Barr ruled that individuals with valid protection asylum claims who entered between ports of entry no longer are eligible for release on bond by an immigration judge. The decision could result in the unnecessary detention of thousands more individuals each year, despite the enormous financial and human costs. With the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and the ACLU, the American Immigration Council intends to challenge the new decision.
  • FOIA

FOIA Request on EOIR Institutional Hearing Program

The Council, along with AILA and the Immigrant Defense Project (IDP) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) seeking information relating to the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP).

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